So, I'm back, and I told ThatGirlWithaCat that if I didn't finish this by tomorrow then she was to yell at me, so we'd better hope that doesn't happen, huh? Lol. Anyway, a great thank you to ThatGirlWithaCat, who is a wonderful person who is a lovely beta and all, and also, on the fifteenth I uploaded the TENTH chapter. So yay, isn't that great?

SunBear: Oof. Sorry. Well, he said some stuff afterward, and obviously Annabeth heard it, but I like a sort of cliffhanger ending. Also I didn't want to type anymore...and yeah, he did.
She's there, one, cause I want to stir things up and ruin Percabeth's date, and two, basically to end things, because she eventually realized that just leaving without a trace was going to impede Frederick's everything, and other undisclosed reasons. Annabeth leaves because she doesn't like what's gone down in front of her, and unfamiliar things scare people, and she's part of people, and so she needed to lick her wounds, so to speak.
I talked about why Athena was there already, so. Yeah. She's...a goddess in canon, she kinda has everything handed to her courtesy of magic. :/
Yes, Annabeth is having an identity crisis. She didn't fly in, at least. Just...gas. :/
Thanks. She's a wisdom goddess, yeah. And, like all the other gods (in canon), she doesn't have a soulmate, as does no one else in her family, so they kinda have to have that information.
Yes, the main purpose was the weakening of Annabeth's soulmate beliefs. Bye!

Nothing could go wrong: Lol. Well, that's okay. And yeah, poor Annabeth...but I'm a mean person so I'll write it anyway. Percy...sat there for a little while. He probably would have...if Annabeth hadn't made it clear she wanted to leave. Plus, he needed to, like...pay for the date and stuff, and she would probably have made some space by the time he was done with that. Good job! Bye!

TealPensWithNoireInk: Well, they are demigods…can they really have a fully happy story? We'll see…I like the World of Happy Percabeth myself. Thank you!

Poseidon1702: Yes, it was…thank you.

ThatGirlWithaCat: Good, at least you know me. Ish. Yeah…they don't really mix with me, do they? *sigh* That's okay. It wouldn't be me. I like being me, just so ya know. If someone was taking control of my conscience…that sounds like some creepy movie. It probably already is, or at least a book.
Seriously, what is it with Ocean Beach? San Francisco isn't a beach, it has a bay. No…
Thanks, and look again.
Well, then you're not gonna like what's coming in a while. Percabeth wrenches, yeah, I need those. I don't need the Jasper problems, but I like the story so much better with them…you're going to like this chapter's ending, I can tell. :) …really? First HAWANFH…now this? Don't cry. That makes me sound evil.
…why.

Daughter of Sally Jackson: It was a bit sad, yeah…yup, plot twists!

Oh gods, now's the time to decipher my handwriting from my crazed spree…I hope you like what I came up with!

OH. Self-promotion alert! Join the Camp Jupiter: War Games forum. I actually put it on my profile!

Annabeth's POV (Are you surprised? ;)):

Annabeth kneeled by her desk- Piper had stolen her chair as her 'workaholic tendencies' were freaking her out- but her fingers were steady and true and each slip up ignored in the thought of what would come.

"Beth, you're working too hard," Piper told her. "You've got to stop, this isn't healthy. What are you doing anyways?" she yawned, padding out of their shared room and into the kitchen in pink bunny slippers and with rat's nest hair. "It's one o'clock in the morning."

"I need to do this now," Annabeth told her, "I got the perfect inspiration and I'll lose it by morning."

"That's what you said five hours ago," Piper argued. "Is it a novel, or what?"

"The beginnings," Annabeth said absentmindedly, not even looking up from the page.

"Oh?"

"It's hard to explain Piper, you can just go."

"No, what happened to just a quick thing Annabeth, seriously?" Annabeth paused in her writing momentarily but didn't stop.

"I met my mom, my family had a little chat, my life got upended and I missed my date, anyway Piper I don't want to keep you up, I'll be done soon, I promise."

But Piper looked unconvinced. "That's also what you promised five hours ago, Beth."

"Oh…keep up and I'll write you in my book," Annabeth said in annoyance. Piper seemed to get the message, crossing her arms and backing away.

"I- okay. In the morning, okay Beth?" Annabeth nodded absently, only a shadow of Frederick Chase in San Francisco, throwing everything he had into his own work as his beloved wife reasoned with him, realizing that nothing could bring him back from wherever he'd gone, removing the memory of Athena from both their minds.

In the morning, she had slowed- tired but not going to stop. Piper walked over. "Beth, please. It's eight in the morning now."

"I can't," Annabeth said. "What if this is my book?" She'd been trying to write The Book since her creative writing thesis paper, and this was the first real inspiration in weeks- brought on, though she didn't know it, by the experience of having the rug ripped out from under her own feet.

"No. I can't let you do this," Piper said as she stepped over and reached for the shutdown button. "You're my friend and you're going to work yourself to death."

"No-" Annabeth stopped as the screen went black. "You just erased everything I wrote in the past twelve hours." She said slowly, the reality of it not sinking in. Piper froze, not believing the truth in Annabeth's words.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." Piper kept saying, but Annabeth only stood, too tired to acknowledge her loss.

"It's nothing," she said. "I'm going to sleep. Night." She would deal with it in the morning- it was too late now.

"It's eight A.M.," Piper called after her, but Annabeth was trying to sleep.

Annabeth dreamt of her soulmate, but their face was obscured and her otherwise dreamless sleep innocent and peaceful. The mystery man was talking to her, but his voice sounded fake, and the picnic blanket he spread turned into a bed of writhing snakes.

When Annabeth woke up, any peace vanished as she remembered why she'd gone to sleep in the first place. The fact that her document was gone, with everything she'd written. The fact that she had no more distraction to hide the fact that Athena had lied to her, and her dad, and Helen, and everyone basically.

Piper was pacing back and forth in the kitchen when Annabeth walked out of their bedroom. The guilty look on her face made Annabeth feel slightly guilty that she was the reason she looked that way. After all, it wasn't like Annabeth wanted to make Piper feel bad, but if she hadn't shut down the computer and erased everything, then nothing else would have happened…

"I'm sorry," she said needlessly. "About turning off your laptop and everything."

"It's okay." Annabeth said. "I…don't think it would have been The Book anyway." There was a bitter taste in her mouth as she downplayed the loss- that inspiration she'd had, that had been its product and it had all been thrown away. That was imagination. And as an adult, she had precious little to spare.

From the age of eight to maybe eleven, if Annabeth had access to a keyboard, that was what she was going to be doing. There were the documents at Half-Blood to prove it. Maybe that was the last bit of inspiration that she'd have for a few more weeks as it had been before. Could she afford for that to be the case?

"I mean…if you're sure." Piper said doubtfully, before she hesitated and fixed Annabeth with her kaleidoscopic eyes. "What did you mean last night when you said…you met your mom, had a chat with our family, and upended your life?"

"I didn't upend my life, that would be a stupid thing to do," Annabeth told her. "But my mom did. Remember how I dumped that big thing on you about soulmates…a few weeks ago?" she had to confront it now- and Piper couldn't keep dodging around the topic like cats around a cucumber.

"Yeah…" Piper said in confusion.

"Well, turns out I was wrong about the whole…soulmate thing," Annabeth said slowly. "Because my mother is a lying…soulmateless…woman." Piper's didn't stop looking confused.

"Start from the beginning, please."

Annabeth started from the beginning.

"Well, my dad called me when I was on my big date with Percy, and then he told me that my mom- Athena- came back. And she disappeared when I was really young, I don't have any memories, really. I don't know what I expected, but in short, I blew up at her a bit for being kind of a deadbeat, and then she dropped the bomb: that my dad and her weren't soulmates."

"Wait, really?" Piper asked. "I mean…that's…good, right? You don't like soulmates. That means maybe soulmates aren't as bad as you thought…and maybe it's just the fact that some people lie about love." Annabeth bristled.

"Well, I didn't need to learn, certainly not from my mom I haven't seen since a very young age, and certainly not this way! What child wants to learn she's what society thinks of as illegitimate!" Annabeth said. "And this only solidifies my thoughts on soulmates," she said firmly. "My mother's soulmate at the time, and my dad believing they were soulmates when the mark has now faded because of the change, falling apart." While Annabeth's words were clear and strong, she wasn't sure how right she was. But she certainly couldn't admit her doubts now, and especially not to Piper after the word vomit she'd spewed on her.

"Well, if you say so," Piper said slowly. "So that's why you ditched Percy and your guys' date? To go pull out a bunch of skeletons in the Chase family closet?"

"Well, not totally Chase," Annabeth corrected. "Before my mom married in…and divorced out…she was an Olympian, or something. And she has a bunch of other failed soulmate children or so I'm told. I don't totally know, but there's Malcolm, and some others." Annabeth explained. "I think."

"Your family is messed up," Piper said.

"Well thanks Pipes, that makes me feel so much better." Annabeth said sarcastically. "I mean, I knew my family was terrible, but now that you've said it out loud, oh, the joy I feel…"

"You're a hoot," Piper told her. "Just lovely, you are." She softened. "But seriously, are you alright? And what happened to Percy? Are you guys going to reschedule your date?" Annabeth shrugged. Right now, she could care less about Percy.

"I don't know Piper. Right now? We haven't rescheduled. We might not. I doubt Percy wants another date with the girl who basically ditched him in front of a full pizzeria, leaving him to pay."

"Annabeth, it's a first date. It's customary that the man pay. And alright. Well, I should head out, I might be able to start my own practice if I can manage to rent someplace." She paused. "But I'm studying music…I don't know if I can afford to pay for a private practice when I could just get a regular job at someone else's…it's not what I want to do anyway."

"Follow your dreams," Annabeth told her. "They're not always constant or good monetarily, but your core dream is the one friend that will never leave you. Maybe as you grow it'll make some adjustments…but there's a reason people wish upon stars, isn't there?"

Piper smirked. "I dunno…I'd wish on Jason Grace even if I'd already fulfilled all my dreams." Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Not that kind of star."

Annabeth was taking in groceries when she met him. She saw, for a moment, what Piper saw in him- for a moment, he looked just like Luke.

"Morning," he greeted her- just another normal human being. Annabeth didn't mind him- she wasn't one of the lawyer/actor's fans.

"A fine one, too," she said lightly. "Jason, correct?"

"Yes."

Annabeth was suddenly hit with a wicked idea. "You are the famous Jason Grace, right?" At his nod, she kept going. "I don't know who you are, so I do hope that explains why I'm not acting like a high school girl's crush said two words to her."

"Believe me, it's not a problem at all. Who are you, anyway?" Jason asked, looking at her curiously. Annabeth wondered, just for a moment, about the possibility of him being her soulmate- that would be an epic fail from Destiny.

"Annabeth. Annabeth Chase, Mister Grace." He gave her a small, but oddly white, smile.

"Well, Annabeth Chase, may I help you with your bags?" Annabeth didn't want Piper to see him- she'd freak, with her huge obsession with Jason Grace (Annabeth didn't really see why) but she nodded anyway. It wasn't like she was going to invite some famous guy into her apartment, that was still stranger danger.

"You may." She said, hefting two. "Sorry, there's a lot of them, my roommate went on a…well, I'm not sure what it was, but now there isn't much left in our fridge." Jason laughed.

"It's no trouble, what sort of gentleman would I be not to help a woman with her bags?" You'd be the same sort of gentleman much of the male population claims to be. Annabeth thought to herself- not realizing she'd said so out loud until Jason laughed again.

"Well, Miss Chase, I'm not quite part of that percent of the male population. Do you live in this building? The Catnip Cottages?" Annabeth nodded, shifting the weight of one grocery bag from one arm to the next.

"Yes. You?"

"The same." Annabeth looked him over- she wasn't really sure why Piper was so interested in the guy, but to each their own. It wasn't like Piper would ever have gone for Annabeth's type of guy…did she have a type of guy? She wasn't really sure.

Jason held the door to the building open for her as they walked inside. "Well, I'll see you again, I believe, considering we live in the same building," he stated matter of factly. "Until we meet again," Annabeth Chase.

"Wait. Just a moment." Annabeth said, steeling herself. She wasn't asking Jason Grace out, no, just asking him on a blind date for her Jason Grace crazed roommate…but how hard could it be? Just cause he was some star Annabeth had never heard of before Piper, he wasn't untouchable.

"Oh, were there more bags or something?" Jason asked in concern. Annabeth shook her head hurriedly, she had no time for this.

"No, it's not that. I have a sort of favor to ask of you, which is crazy since we don't even know each other at all." Annabeth said. Piper is so going to owe me for this… Jason Grace only looked at her, waiting for Annabeth to go on.

"Well, this will probably sound kind of crazy, so just hear me out before you run away. But, while I know you're some sort of superstar, what would you say to a blind date?"

*Sigh* Well, here is what some of you want. *cough* Willow the SunBear *cough* I'm not sure about the rest of you, but eh. Here's your song for this chapter and the day: The Story in Your Eyes, the Moody Blues, of course. :)